Keeping your WordPress plugins updated is essential for security, performance, and compatibility. However, sometimes, updates fail, or WordPress doesn’t detect a new version. In such cases, you may need to forcefully update a plugin. Below are several methods to do this safely.
Method 1: Update via the WordPress Dashboard
If an update is available but not applying correctly, try these steps:
- Go to Dashboard > Updates.
- Check the plugin you want to update.
- Click Update Plugins.
If this doesn’t work, you may need to use a more forceful approach.
Tricking WordPress:
If your WordPress plugin is not working properly, or you want to re-install it even when it is updated to its latest version, without losing data, you can do this without removing the plugin. (You can do this with both active or deactivated plugins.)
If you have not disabled file editing within your Dashboard, you can use the "Edit" option to amend the plugins version number.
- Login to your WordPress admin dashboard.
- Under the dashboard menu, hover your mouse over "Plugins" and then click on "Installed Plugins".
- Locate the plugin you wish to forcefully update and then click on "Edit".
- In the editor, locate the text that specifies the version number. In this example, the plugin version is "1.6", which we need to change to a lower number i.e. "1.5".
- Scroll down and click on "Update File". Then go back to the "Installed Plugins" list, and you will see a text like "There is a new version of plugin available" and you will only need to click on "Update now". This will update your plugin's files.
Method 2: Manually Update via FTP
For a manual update using FTP, follow these steps:
- Download the latest plugin version from the official WordPress repository or the developer’s website.
- Extract the ZIP file on your computer.
- Connect to your website via FTP (using a tool like FileZilla).
- Navigate to
/wp-content/plugins/. - Find the folder of the plugin you need to update and delete it.
- Upload the new version’s extracted folder.
- Once uploaded, go back to WordPress and check if the plugin is updated.
Note: Deleting the plugin folder won’t remove settings, but it’s always recommended to take a backup before proceeding.
Method 3: Force Update Using WP-CLI
If you have SSH access to your server and WP-CLI installed, you can use the following command to force an update:
wp plugin update plugin-name --forceReplace plugin-name with the actual slug of the plugin you’re updating.
Conclusion
Forcefully updating a WordPress plugin ensures that you’re always running the latest, most secure version. Whether using the dashboard, FTP, or WP-CLI, choose the method that best fits your setup.
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